FINAL ASSIGNMENT: sentence summary

After miraculously surviving a terminal illness as a child Adam's mother shortly disappears, after many years, Adam, who is a young adult travels to his mother's homeland, Mexico, with his girlfriend Sarah, in search of her, only to unlock secrets from his childhood, he wished he never knew.

GENRE
- The general consensus, or subject topic of a story.
CLICHE
- A repetitive idea or concept that is predictable.
STEREOTYPE
- Making an assumption about someone or something based on their looks, nationality, race etc.
ANTAGONIST
- The opposition force in a story, the element that causes the obstacle within a story.
PROTAGONIST
- The leading role in a story, whose objectives are the main focus of the entire story.
SUPPORTING
- A character besides the lead who also plays an important role in a story.
CHARACTERIZATION
- Creating a character with easily recognizable traits that compliment the story.

class practice 2

Story 1: A boy with Asperger's syndrome struggles to find friendship amongst people who find him weird.

Story 2: A group of teenagers fight hard to survive when they are left stranded on an island.

Story 3: 2 friends become enemies when they eye the same wedding dress.

Story 4: A group of friends are confounded when they find out one of their friends has been diagnosed with cancer.

Story 5: A girl begins to seek revenge when her friend spreads malicious rumors about her.

Story 6: A group of refugees who find themselves in a tough predicament when their refuge is destroyed.

Story 7: A wayward individual seeks salvation when he commits a heinous crime.

Story 8: A quiet girl living in a lonely apartment begins to feel insecure when a string of serial murders occur in her neighborhood.

Story 9: A group of adolescent teens decide to explore an abandoned mansion in hopes of finding hidden treasure.

Story 10: A troubled girl turns to promiscuity to validate her existence, but she is caught of guard when reality begins to hit her.

Story 11: A young couple come to terms with the fact that their young child has been diagnosed with a terminal illness.

Story 12:

Story 13: An eye opening journey through the everyday life of a single mother of 2 during the libyan rebellion.

Screenplay and storyboarding lesson #1: What makes a good story?

To me, stories are the bread and butter of every culture. Stories give an insight into another person's experience and often times allow the audience to grow as individuals. Stories are important because it gives people and opportunity to feel emotions they've never felt or understand situations they'd never been through before.

so... what makes a good story?

-3 act structure
-genre
-plot
-characters
-conflict
-climax
-conclusion

- A relate-able main character who has a strong motive that drives the entire story.

- A conflict makes the story far more interesting, it creates an obstacle which keeps the
audience intrigued.

- A climax can make or break a story, it is important to make sure there is a good climax
within to story to keep the audiences' interest.

- A good conclusion wraps up the story, giving the audience a sense of satisfaction, in some
cases a conclusion should leave a little to the audiences' imagination.

Sentence summary

"For the birds"
- A misfit bird trying to fit in with a group of smaller birds only to be ridiculed, he finds a way to exact a rather hilarious revenge.

"Knick-knack"
- A snowman stuck in a snow globe attempts to break free from his glass prison in order to unite with an attractive female toy, his multiple attempts prove to be futile as he ends up in an even worse predicament than he was before.

"Its my life" - Bon Jovi
- The hectic journey of a young adolescent boy from his home all the way to an underground tunnel in order to catch a Bon Jovi concert.

"Fantasia flamingos"
- A misfit flamingo attempts to break the grace and order of his flock by tossing around a yo-yo.

"dinosaur farts"
- 2 dinosaurs and a pig get into a farting competition with each other, the pig however manages to knock the other two out by unleashing an immensely unpleasant fart.

Pied Pipers (Johann genome)

It was late, around one in the morning, James peered out between the shades of his window. An ominous black van pulled up into his driveway. It was time for him to go, carry out the deed he was asked to do. He was escorted to the van by two tall men clad in a black suits. He was driven about for about an hour before the van pulled up in front of a sort of large cargo container. It felt like the middle of nowhere, except he knew he was near the coast, where many illegal activities take place. In the distance, just beside the far end of the container stood a large stout man, big Larry, accompanied by 3 others.

Earlier that day, James had got a call from big Larry. Big Larry was yet again in needed James' abilities. James was like any other ordinary man, except for the fact that he could easily hypnotize anyone. Have them look into his eyes and he'd have them spewing out things they'd never thought they'd reveal to anyone or doing things they swore they'd never do. When the underground drug and crime syndicates found out about people like him, the world changed. The crime rate in countries all over the globe had hit a record high. Ordinary people would carry out illegal operations in hypnosis, only to wake up not knowing who hypnotized them or what they had done. It became increasingly hard to identify the real criminals. These people were given the nickname, 'pied pipers', in reference to the fairytale by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe. Researchers at the National Human Genome Research Institute discovered that the ability is hereditary and is passed on by what they termed as 'the Johann genome'. Even though these people were extremely rare, they proved to be substantially dangerous to society if they were to misuse their ability, police forces all over the globe were taking action and many 'pied pipers' had to go into hiding. However, crime syndicate leaders such as big Larry were willing to provide quite a substantial amount for the services of these people, and James, who had recently lost his job, was in need of money.

Big Jim greeted James and explained, while avoiding James' gaze, that he had reprimanded one of his substance pushers in suspicion that he had stolen some cocaine to start a trafficking business for himself. This was a normal situation for James, he had hypnotized many drug pushers before because their leaders suspected they were stealing. Big Larry was one of his regulars. James was escorted into the large cargo container. The drug pusher was tied down, on a chair while another man grasped his hair tightly forcing him to look into James' eyes. Before he knew it, James had control over him. He had unlocked the man's unconscious.

"I'm going to ask you some questions and you must answer truthfully."
The man nodded
"did you steal some of Big Larry's cocaine?"

Before the man could answer there was a loud bang and the cargo containers door busted open with a whole team of navy blue clad men rushing in with black rifles and helmets. James had lost his concentration and the man broke free of his psychological grasp. The men pointed their guns at him and threatened that they would shoot him down if he does not cover his eyes with his hands. James was in shock, he wasn't careful enough. He never knew big Larry would do this to him. The government and police had no choice but to start working with crime syndicates in order to capture 'pied pipers' as only crime syndicate leaders were aware of their identities. They offered these syndicates a huge some of money in exchange for the capture of a 'pied piper'.

James was arrested and taken away, on the back of a police truck, his eyes covered shut by a metal constrictor, specially made for people of his kind. He soon found himself sitting in an interrogation room. Though he could not see anything through the metal constrictor he could feel the coldness of the room, the uncomfortable hard chair and icy metal table.

"James Saint Peters, yet another pied piper, you people have caused us so much trouble".
A man with a deep cold voice spoke.
James knew the only way he was going to be freed was to make up a story.

"I'm not a pied piper! You have to believe me! I just do this for the money! I'm broke, I heard about things like this and though I could fake my way into earning good money!"
He pleaded.

"Do you really think we're that dumb? You monsters look like us, talk like us, makes it so easy for you to get away with your shit, I'm sick of it, sick of partnering up with these filthy mafia bosses just to hunt down your sorry ass! You know, in NHGRI, they're already on their way to creating a vaccine for the Johann genome. Pretty soon pieces of shit like you won't have to be locked in high security prison cells, instead you'll be forced to live ordinary lives like the rest of us miserable folk!"

"I told you, I am not one of them! At least give me a chance to prove myself, if they can hypnotize people just by looking into your eyes then let me look into somebody's eyes! I'm a fake! I just do it cause I need the cash!"
James pleaded more convincingly this time, he knew under the law if he were to ask for a chance to prove his innocence they would have to oblige him if his demand is reasonable.

While staring away, the chief interrogator removed the metal constrictor from James' eyes while his partner sat across the table in front of James. While staring at the wall, away from James, he asked his partner to look into James's eyes, and told James to ask him to say something. He threatened if his partner were to repeat what James' had asked him to say he would shoot James there and then without any mercy.

James begins to mumble;
"Tell your partner, you just hate us because you wish you can hypnotize your into sleeping with you."

there was an eerie silence, the inspector's anger was resonating throughout the room.

The chief inspector's partner then began repeating the phrase.

"THAT'S IT! GO TO HELL!"
Just as the inspector pulled out his handgun and shot James right in the forehead, a sudden jolt shot through his body, as he heard the loud bang from his own gun.

His eyes bulged as his face went fire engine red.
"wasn't James on the other end of the table?" He thought.
Blood began spreading across the table from the man's head.
He had shot his partner, whom he thought was James, when he looked over James was gone, the door was wide open and his keys were missing. Then, he remembered, as he was removing the constrictor, he had accidentally, briefly looked at James in his reflection in the tiles on the wall across him. In that short moment James had managed to latch onto the interrogator's mind, contort his thinking and made him think his own partner was a whole different person. Traumatized, the inspector dropped to his knees, point the gun at himself and pulled the trigger.

The 'pied pipers' weren't given that name because they could hypnotize people, they were given that name because they were cunning, manipulative and downright evil. Much like the Pied pier of Hamelin who hypnotized all the children in the village and brought them to drown in a river just because the villagers mistreated him.

#6: Character summary [Never Let Me Go]

[SYNOPSIS]

'Never let me go' is a science fiction novel written by British author Kazuo Ishiguro. Despite its sci-fi status, 'Never let me go' is surprisingly very indie, possibly the most heart-wrenching science fiction book I have ever read. The book is set in retrospective England, in a fictional world where scientific advances in the 80's have already made human cloning possible, hence, people start producing clones in order to harvest their organs for medical uses such as transplants. The film begins in the country side, in Hailsham boarding school where the clones live till they turn 16, then, they move to the "cottages" which are residential areas where they have their first taste of the real world. When they hit roughly around 35, they become donors, and are required to donate their organs via a total of 4 operations, most clones only surviving till the third. When a clone dies while donating it is morbidly termed as "completion" by the characters in the book.

[CHARACTER ANALYSIS: KATHY]

The book revolves around 3 main characters, Kathy, Ruth and Tommy, Kathy being the protagonist. Their story begins in Hailsham, where Kathy falls for Tommy, a quiet boy who would get picked on a lot. He would start throwing tantrums and having a temper, which would only make Kathy want to reach out to him more, even as a child, Kathy has a sympathetic nature. When Tommy gets bullied for not being able to be creative, Kathy is able to relate even though she is artistically talented, being not only sympathetic but empathetic as well. She continues to love Tommy even when he hits her by accident during one of his tantrums. Kathy confides in Ruth, her love for Tommy, even though Ruth is clearly depicted as a manipulative character, this shows Kathy is a very trusting, gullible person. Kathy is clearly hurt when she sees Ruth becoming intimate with Tommy, however she manages to hide it, eventually almost getting over it. Even though the beginning of the book depicted Kathy as being a meek, feeble girl, we quickly see how emotionally strong she is. Kathy envelopes incidents that affect her and is able to put on a poker-face at her will, showing that she has quite a lot of control of her emotions. As they become adults and move to the "cottages", Kathy's resentment towards Ruth becomes more prominent. Ruth starts to copy the behavior of people on television in order to fit in with the others in the cottages, Kathy confronts her and tells her that that is not how people really act in the world, that the people on TV are exaggerated. Here, we understand that Kathy is very mature, she is not interested in pleasing others and is satisfied with the way she is. She finds Ruth's attempts at fitting in to be rather disgusting. However, when Ruth tells Kathy she is only jealous because she is the only single person in a house full of couples, Kathy simply brushes her off, showing her non-confrontational nature. Kathy is someone who speaks honestly to others without sugar coating her words, however she is never in the interest of getting into a fight. We see that she is very forgiving when she decides to help when Ruth needed someone to accompany her out of town. Although Kathy seems to be a very positive character, I guess her only personality flaw is her brutal honestly. She doesn't hesitate telling someone the truth no matter how hurtful it might be, perhaps because she's heard the truth about her own life far too many times. Tommy catches Kathy flipping through a porno magazine, as though she was looking for something, when asked what she was doing she simply replies "I'm just looking at dirty pictures". Later in the book we find out that she was actually looking for the person she was cloned from; she had always had strong sexual urges and thought that she might have been cloned after a porn-star. Even though she is not really interested in finding her "original" she wants to get a sense of what kind of person was she molded after, in order to get a sense of who she is. She feels somewhat empty.

Her personality attributes flow according with the story when she applies to become a carer, someone who takes care of donors during their donations. Her ability to keep her emotions in check allow her to take care of her donors without having a break down no matter how bad the situation might be. She soon becomes Ruth's carer, then Tommy's. Kathy and Tommy try to apply to defer their donations for another four years, only to find out there are no such things as deferrals. Unlike Tommy who shows his frustration, Kathy is able to keep calm, and accept the situation. Even though she is hurt, she accepts what is happening to her.

As I neared the end of the book, I realised how catatonic Kathy's personality really is. From her point of view, unlike Ruth and Tommy who outwardly show their emotions, she chooses to keep them inside, hidden, because she knows there is nothing she can do to change her situation, so she just simply accepts it. She has forced herself not to feel bereaved whenever her donor completes, perhaps because I think she'd rather live a decent life rather than feeling depressed all the time. I think Kathy knew that even as a little girl in Hailsham, there was no point feeling sad about something she cannot change. That was what made the book so tragic, Kathy exemplifies how most people would behave if they were in a similar situation. I could relate with Kathy. Coming up with a character so real, and raw is far more difficult than coming up with some exaggerated aficionado, which is why I feel Kazuo Ishiguro is extremely skilled in his craft, making this book "novel of the decade" according to TIME.

#5: Next door

14/6/2010
3PM

Ann had just finished school. She walked intently back to her nearby apartment building, hair caught in the wind. She had no time to lose, she had to report to work in half an hour. She rushes into the elevator just as the doors were about to close, about to push the button for her floor only to realize it had already been pushed, illuminated in red, she knew all her neighbors living on her floor, however she did not recognize the man inside the elevator. She paid no attention to him, he wore a plaid shirt, buttoned halfway, denim jeans and a baseball cap that hid his eyes, he stared at the ground most of the time, but Ann felt extremely uneasy.

She stormed out the moment the doors open, partly because she was going to be late for work, but mostly because she was uncomfortable being around that man. frantically walking down the long hall, she reached her apartment, and started fumbling with her keys, in the corner of her gaze, she realized the man was walking directly towards her. She broke into a cold sweat, her heart beat quickened with every step he took. He was just a few feet away from her now, she finally manages to find the right key, hastily unlocking her door, only to realize he was unlocking the door next to hers. apparently he lived next door. Confused, she dumped her bag in a corner, changed to her barista uniform, tidied her hair in a mirror and ran out, making her way to the cafe she worked at.

14/6/2010
4PM

Ann reached work in the nick of time to start her shift. She thought nothing about what happened earlier, she assumed her next door neighbour, Ruth, was just having some company over. She was confused as to how she had never seen that man before, Ruth was a close friend of hers, a confidante. Ann parents separated when she was young, both of them had gotten re-married and cared little about her, Ann lived with her maternal grandmother in that very apartment all her life. She had the place all to herself now, her grandmother had passed away just a year ago. Ruth, who had been Ann's neighbour for five years would always check on Ann, comforting her, being a friend to her. They were like sisters. Ann and Ruth started to drift apart when Ann started her degree course, having little time to spend with Ruth.

She was glad to have some work to do, to keep her preoccupied, distracted, from the many things that were circling around her mind. She had many school assignments piling up, and they were due pretty soon. She decided to stay up that night to finish up even though she was exhausted.

14/6/2010
8PM

Ann finished her shift, got her things and departed for home after saying goodbye to her colleagues. It was pouring outside, and she had forgotten to bring an umbrella, regardless she made her way home under the pouring rain as she lived nearby. She briefly reached her apartment building, sodden from head to toe, she was dying to have a warm shower. She hit the elevator button and waited at the lobby. The elevator finally arrived, carrying within it, the man she had seen earlier, he dashed out the moment the doors opened, bumping into Ann. Ann, now agitated, shouted at him but he had ran far out of sight. Exhausted, she entered her apartment, stripped off her clothes and threw them in the laundry basket. At long last getting the warm shower she yearned for.

15/6/2010
4AM

After a long grueling night Ann eventually finished her assignments, and thought she might get some shut eye before school. Moments after getting into her bed Ann heard a soft knocking on the wall beside her. She slowly got up as she heard it a few more times. This was extremely unusual, she pressed her hear against the wall, the knocking had stopped.

"Ruth?" Ann called out rather loudly.

No answer. Ann sat there on her bed for about a minute before she decided she was just imagining things and went back to bed.

15/6/2010
11.30AM

Ann had woken up late and was rushing for school. She dashed out her apartment and impatiently pushed the elevator button several times. It was almost as if history was repeating itself. The man she had seen the previous day was coming up. When the elevator doors opened he walked out, clad in old looking clothes, the same baseball cap, carrying a rather large bag. He gave Ann a rather threatening look. Ann thought nothing of it, she assumed he was angry at her for shouting at him the previous night when he had bumped into her. This was the first time she had gotten a good look at his face, he had a menacing disposition.

15/6/2010
5PM

Ann was on her way home, she was relieved she had finally submitted her assignments and didn't have work that day, she could relax a bit. When she reached her floor, all she saw was numerous policemen, several reporters, yellow and black police tape sealing the entrance of Ruth's apartment. Ann was genuinely shocked, news reporters caught sight of her and the whole horde of them made a mad dash towards her, asking her questions she hadn't had a clue how to answer. A police officer pulled her aside away from the reporters and told them to leave her alone. Ann was still in shock, the police officer slowly explained that Ruth, Ann's neighbour had been killed, and they suspected that the Ruth was murdered by the same man who had killed numerous other girls around that area. Ann had goosebumps all over her body now. The officer went on to explain that this particular serial killer would befriend his victims often getting intimate with them before finally killing them Ann saw officers bring out several garbage bags, each stinking of death. She felt the urge to puke. She remembered something and sprinted into her apartment, followed by the officer. She grabbed her laundry basket and emptied its contents on her floor, quickly catching sight of the blouse she had worn the previous night. There it was, blood stains, from where he had bumped her. Ann turned back to look at the officer, the hairs on the back of her neck were standing.

15/6/2010
11PM

Two policemen were given the task to guard Ann's apartment building that night in case the serial killer were to return. Although Ann felt safe, she still had a sense of uneasiness. She didn't have school the next day, but she was tired from the hectic day she had had. She turned off her television, she couldn't find a way to preoccupy herself, so she decided to just go to bed. Her house was quiet, empty, and with Ruth gone, Ann felt so alone, she was still unable to accept that Ruth was really dead. She turned off all the lights and edged towards her bed. Nothing could prepare her for what she was about to experience next. As she was about to climb onto her bed she felt two strong vice-like grips on her ankles. Immediately she looked down, and in the bluish moonlight seeping in through her window she sees two arms, grabbing her from beneath her bed. Her heart skipped a beat, but she couldn't scream. The arms then pulled forward, making her fall, relentlessly pulling her under the bed. In her panic-stricken state, Ann manages to catch a glimpse of what was under her bed, it was him. She was extremely scared, his grip was so strong and she could not break away. She felt she was going to die, going to suffer the same fate as her dear neighbour Ruth and all the other girls he had mercilessly murdered. He was slowly making his way out from beneath the bed. Ann managed to find her voice and screamed,

"RUTH! RUTH HELP ME!"

At that very moment Ann heard the same knocking on her wall she had heard the night before, except it was much louder now. Within a split second, almost effortlessly, the four legs of her bed broke and gave way as the heavy bed frame came crashing down on his skull completely pulverizing it. The knocking stopped. Ann was paralyzed on the floor.

16/6/2010
2AM

Ann sat on her couch, huddling her knees, rocking back and forth as the paramedics brought the lifeless body of Ruth's ex-boyfriend away. Strangely, she began to cry, not because of what happened to her, but because she finally accepted that Ruth was truly gone. She managed to give a short report on what had happened even though she was traumatized.

The serial killer had killed her on the 14th and left, he returned the next day to discard her body, he was dismembering her into smaller pieces so it would be easier to hide her corpse. However he had run out of garbage bags for her remaining limbs. Ruth had had a set of keys to Ann's apartment, he used them, but as he was searching Ann's place he heard the siren of police cars and immediately locked the doors and hid under her bed. Neighbours had called the cops after they noticed the strong lingering smell of rotting flesh from Ruth's place. The police assumed he had left the building long before they arrived.

14/6/2011
3PM

Ann was visiting Ruth's grave. She placed a bouquet of daisies on the foot of the grave, Ruth's favourite flowers. She had had a rough year, but nothing compared to what Ruth had gone through. Ann still felt an overwhelming sense of guilt, she felt if she had not grown to far apart from Ruth, she would have still been alive. They were best friends, and when Ann left for college Ruth was alone, in need of company, so when this strange man came into her life, she welcomed him blind to his malign intentions. But Ann knew Ruth had forgiven her, she knew Ruth had helped her that night, that without her miraculous intervention she would definitely have become the killer's next victim. Ruth had become somewhat of a guardian angel for her, someone to fall back on, someone she could ask for help, whenever she needed.